Deaglán de Bréadún, who met Yasser Arafat twice, recalls his penchant for propaganda
Yasser Arafat was worshipped. Not in the religious or idolatrous sense, but as a father figure of his people.
This first really came home to me when I was brought into his presence (the phrase is not used accidentally) by one of his close supporters at the Palestinian leader's residence in Ramallah in 2002. The occasion was a one on one interview which had come about after much lobbying.
Before introducing me, the Arafat ally embraced his leader with extraordinary affection and respect, such as I have never seen displayed towards any political leader. This minor but telling incident brought home to me that, although the Palestinians had lost everything else, they always had Arafat. We in the West could list his flaws, the failure to meet expectations, to clinch deals and bring closure on agreements, to control his unruly followers and play the part set out for him in bringing peace or at least stability to a troubled region.
But we had not lost our homes, our land and our dignity as the Palestinians had when they fled or were driven to the dreadful refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank at the foundation of Israel in 1948 and during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Here was a leader who gave them standing in the world, frequently - but not always - a clever tactician and negotiator, an international figure who was the equal of anyone he met on the world stage. When I interviewed him, on St Patrick's Day 2002, the atmosphere was quite relaxed and Arafat made some interesting and newsworthy comments, although his approach was very propagandistic.
My other most memorable encounter with him was on the fateful day of September 11th, 2001. I was one of a number of journalists who accompanied Brian Cowen to Gaza City, where he was to have a fairly routine meeting with the Palestinian leader. When we got to Arafat's headquarters there was a combination of chaos and panic in the air. When the two men came out for a brief meeting with the media, Arafat was clearly shattered. He was said to be suffering from Parkinson's Disease and his lip was quivering like jelly.
After a brief declaration that he would do all in his power to deal with the perpetrators of such attacks he was whisked away by his ever-protective followers.
Arafat visited Ireland because this country was one of his staunchest supporters, albeit never uncritical. Ireland has been very supportive of the Palestinians but at the same time, Irish politicans and officials have sought to advise the Palestinians on the best way forward politically. But Arafat either did not or could not take this advice and, for all his standing, was unable or unwilling to impose the necessary political and military discipline.